I laughed, tension melting from my body. “You’re insane.”
“Insane and correct,” she said, raising her glass.
“I’m doing this for you too, mama,” I whispered to Nikole across the room.
Whether he was there or not, I needed to be able to say I tried. This time, I wasn’t going as Elise with secrets. I was going as Noelle… A mother, boss, and a woman finally ready to face what she ran from. Whatever waited in that mountain, I would meet it head-on.
Chapter 12
Niko
There’s tired… and then there’s the kind of tired where your soul feels like it’s running on fumes…that’s where I’d been living for the past damn year. Dallas stayed busy no matter what month it was. Holiday season just turned everything up. Traffic was crazy, Christmas lights were everywhere, and muthafukas kept trying to book me for intimate Christmas dinners like I was a personal chef on standby with nothing else to do.
I walked out of the kitchen at my Dallas flagship with my shoulders tight. We had just finished a private tasting for a high-profile couple, and they were talking about flying me out to Cabo for their New Year’s Eve party. My team was excited about Cabo. I wasn’t. The check looked nice, but the timing was trash. My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket for the third time. I pulled it out, seeing that I had another email from my father about the Hargrove event that he was expecting Victoria and I to attend. I ignored that shit and headed to the Tahoe that was waiting for me.
It had been almost a year of nothing but bullshit. Those fake ass pictures with my fake ass fiancé were starting to drain the life out of me. We only had a month left before the weddingand I was no closer to wanting to get married than I was the day I opened my dumb ass mouth and agreed to it. Everyone saw a perfect ass couple when we were out, I only saw another chain around my fuckin’ neck. The truth was, Victoria and I were actually cool. She wasn’t the stuck-up barbie bitch that her image made her look like. We got along; we could joke and sit in a room without not hate each other. She was smart and knew how to move in any crowd and on paper, she made sense, but in my bed, she did not.
We tried fucking early on and it was awkward as hell. She would tense up every time my dick got close to her pussy. That shit had me wondering what the fuck was going on? I knew I wasn’t no ugly nigga and I also wasn’t desperate for no pussy so I took that as another sign from the universe telling me what I already knew: We didn’t belong together. I didn’t have the patience to coach a grown woman through shit she clearly did not want, so I left it alone and never tried again. Shit, my lotion had been doing the trick just fine and when shit got too backed up, I’d call Candice over to handle it.
We pulled to my building and I got out and headed inside. I rode the elevator up and walked into my penthouse, already tugging my collar loose. Victoria was on my couch with a glass of red wine. She had kicked her heels off by the door and her blazer was tossed on the armrest like she lived there.
“You let yourself in again,” I said, dropping my keys in the bowl by the door.
She lifted her glass. “Perks of being the fiancée.”
“Real fucking funny.”
“I try.”
She eyed me. “How was work?”
“Busy as hell but very profitable.” I sank into the chair across from her. “How was yours?”
“Annoying.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “My mother has every holiday weekend between now and the wedding mapped out. Parties, teas, charity events, an ugly-sweater brunch that I never agreed to. Your father called to coordinate schedules and I almost blocked his number.”
“Join the club,” I said.
She took a slow sip. “You look tired.”
“Shit, I am tired.”
“From work,” she asked, “or from this little Broadway show we putting on for everybody?”
“Both.”
She snapped her fingers. “See? Finally, some honesty from Mr. Frost.”
I stared at her. “Why you so full of jokes today?”
“Because if I don’t laugh, I’ll throw myself off your penthouse balcony,” she said.
That pulled a low chuckle out of me before I could stop it, despite my mood. We sat in silence, watching the city glow through the windows. Christmas lights where everywhere, but none of it touched my mood.
She set her glass down. “So, I had an idea.”
“That sentence is dangerous coming from you,” I mumbled.
“Relax. I’m not announcing a pregnancy or asking you to practice our first dance.” She tucked one leg under her. “I need a break before I cuss somebody out in front of a camera. You look like you do too.”
